Interdimensional Observer

Ah the end of Part 3. The battle itself isn't too special, but it does kinda reflect the dire straits the Daein Army is in. Micaiah's lost her defensive fortifications and has to fight in the open- the worse possibility for her and the best for the Laguz Alliance since they're far stronger and more numerous. She fields a few Tier 1 generic units- she's scrapping the bottom of the manpower barrel. She can't tell her soldiers why they must fight, because how is she going to explain the Blood Pact to them without creating panic in the ranks? And Micaiah, for all her swift rise to the top via charisma and miraculous powers, lacks any formal military training and her powers have weakened. Had there been no divine intervention, I'm pretty sure Daein would've collapsed after this fight. How could Micaiah have fought again? The LA was right on the border with Begnion as the pre-battle narration shows. Maybe she could convince the Senate to a flanking stratagem, but that'd be her last chance. Since I'm doubtful the Senate would consider Daein an effective ally if the sub-humans and false Apostle were marching distance of Duke Gaddos's (Lekain's) estate. But this is but counterfactual stuff- we don't really know what would have happened, because, well, you just saw why! Still, it's an interesting thought. RD might have had barebones Supports, but the enormous and well written player vs. player boss convos (albeit some repeat like Zihark's set) and the Base Conversations, though not totally adequate replacements, are very good indeed. I can't help but compare this to Fates: On a more positive note, I've looked over the Extended Script for 3-F in case you didn't (you shouldn't because it names the figure the goddess was speaking with). There seem to be hardly any differences, except with Almedha and the Blood Pact. First, here is the dialogue if Pelleas was dead in the Regular Script And here is the same dialogue in the Extended Script: Keeping Pelleas alive results in much the same dialogue in both versions, just modified to take in consideration his existence (meaning Almedha isn't so sorrowful) and which you saw. I think they handled this alive/dead thing rather well. I bolded the lines of particular interest to me. It appears Almedha is bit more insane with grief in the Japanese version- threatening to kill Micaiah sounds like that to me. That laugh I bolded in the regular script seems to have that same bitterness to it as the death threat, just not as explicit. And they don't say what this illness Almedha had is, whatever it was, maybe it's her weakening powers though. Some people dislike Ashnard having used a Blood Pact, because it undermines his "survival of the fittest" ideology. But treachery and cunning are signs of strength, and it isn't like he could've gotten away with killing all potential heirs by himself. One man, yes, killing every other royal in line to throne with his sword (I like how they used his PoR boss sword the Gurgurant in that one CG) and no one suspecting anything, that would be almost impossible to conceal. If he had, he'd have caused a civil war, which he wouldn't have necessarily minded probably, but why does he have to fight an unnecessary battle? He likes fighting, but why take the long road to the prize if nothing better comes of it? And mind you, Ashnard had zero problems abandoning Daein in PoR, that the Blood Pact killed off some others too was of no consequence to him I can imagine.

Replace one Xander with Ryoma in jingle bells, lots and lots of jingle bells. Jingle bells dangling from everywhere. Every little move he makes is a ring ding dong symphony. Then Micaiah will be officially called Yune and call the player "a dark bag of organs" at least once. A minimum of two quips will mention Sothe. She will also want to lather you in oil, and then set your heart ablaze. Boring! I think Ike as Aimee would work better.

Nanananah not listening! Well as long as they don't try pulling this on Kirby, I'm okay. They were smart to drop the idea. MK and KD3 getting awful anime English was bad enough. Pokemon speaking audible intelligible language is a no to all but the smart ones like many legendaries and some Psychic types. Maybe you could make an exception for PMDs, but that is it. Pokemon are cute/cool creatures based around charm, intelligible language can get in the way of that.

A "so have this sex appeal freebie but it isn't a seasonal"? A loophole less sensical than Naesala escaping his Blood Pact. But since when has sense been part of FEH? And on that point, I guess I could settle with Alfonse in scuba gear. Or Anna as the Shark Goddess. Which would you think to be the better freebie? But parasols aren't a weapon type. Me like, me take. To Touma any way love I shall make.

Ye say Seasonals don't exist, except a hypothetical one of a character you really like. Even if they are gameplay-wise interesting/good. Ye be a hypocrite. Understandable. I'd be the same. Same here, Melee gave Roy and got me in. After FE7 I'd always praise Roy as the son of Eliwood. Although now I prefer the grace and elegance of Marth's fencing-styled tipper gameplay now. The only way to use a surfboard or surfboard like item in battle is like this (skip to 2:20):

Does it have something to do with male felines having phallic spines? I heard on lions at least they go "against the grain" sliding in easy, but coming out rough. This causes the lionesses to slap their mates, but at the same time it stimulates the reproductive cycle in them. It requires some time and effort to get the lionesses fertile. Good idea, I'd hate for those awesome Mirage designs to go to waste. I'd take a bunch of variants for sure. The only issue would be getting all the designs represented. Linde is only Sage, there is no one to be a Sorceress if Mirage Tharja is a Dark Mage. Likewise, we wouldn't have anyone for either Great Lord or Conqueror or Assassin or Wyvern Knight or Swordmaster. Flying Disembodied Gangrel Head please. A Red Sword unit whose locked weapon naturally hits anyone in all adjacent spaces. And all Red Infantry Swords. Turncoat isn't even playable in any capacity by the way- so who cares about him? Bolt Axe Lissa, Moonlight Elise, and Spellbane Sakura are who matters. IS needs to get its marketing department better organized. A few good grinding maps being all they had for Warriors representation isn't enough. Don't they like Seasonals over expanding the perma pool?

We could use more Thany now. I so want. Those designs are too beautiful not to want (barring Kiria and Tsubasa). Also, it's a Itsuki-Tsubasa-Touma on one Banner, Kiria-Eleonora-Mamori on another. GHB Yashiro, and a TT featuring Uta-loid Tiki with a Staff or Dragonstone. In one fell swoop, all we could want from TMS would be ours (barring nitpicks like Barry, Maiko, and maybe the Gharnef guy).

Are "hands" a stand in for something else here? I'm interested.

I'm going to play the cynic card here and just say it's because IS couldn't fathom not giving us a totally happy ending. Particularly when the character being sacrificed is YOU! True, Chrom acting all "I can't sacrifice you!" would be better if they showed him sobered up later saying "Well I don't want you to die, it's hard on me, but I leave the choice to you." Micaiah did realize she chose poorly when forsaking her chance set the world on fire to save Sothe. She regrets it, but admits she just couldn't choose otherwise. Chrom saying the same thing in advance of killing Grime would work and help.

I compiled the number of chapters in each game (might be a little off): In terms of mandatory story, RD is unbeaten. Blazing only comes close because of the filler of Lyn Mode. Add optional content, and Fates and Awakening win. But the Paralogues of both 3DS games have the plot importance of cow manure.

Well you're more inclined to see the worst in every word he utters. I'm inclined to see the better (or more often display sympathy for what lurks behind the bad words) he utters. So it is, so it's fine to be. By the way, since Shinon got brought up in a different topic you started. ShinonxSoren is in the lowest tier for support growth in RD, ShinonxIke is one tier above that. Shinon, for all his Ike hating, hates Soren even more, probably because they're both so abrasive. And on PoR, you will have to put up with Soren again of course. Just in case you don't want the details of his general plot appearances, I'll throw them in spoilers. I don't mean to turn you off from PoR, it is very good. I'm just giving you a little heads up.

Just tell me when they put this whole idea on Menopause. I hope it's soon because it looks like its age is showing now and its passionate youthful golden years are over. Juno is best character, Thea is best fighter.

My Reyson for being on this board is fun. So while it looks like I'm Ranulfing around the Muarim of Heroes gameplay, I'm actually Lyreing in wait, hiding in Tibarn, for a chance to pounce on something good. Kyza believe I come around as much as I do? Ena I don't believe it! You can come to Leanne on me to inject some diversity here. I come bearing the Giffca of silliness. Almedha your day better with laughs. Naesalayers can say I contribute Kurthnaga zero zilch here. But I don't try to Rafiel anyone's feathers, so you can pay me no heed. Neal-uchi before me, the Rajaion of bad pun making! I have produced a Dheginsea of atrocities! This is the Nasir of writing quality. No one can Gareth all. Soan your Agony and Pain and Lehran me out of town for this if you must. If that isn't enough, break out a bottle of Vika.

How dare you have Ulkirior motives! Janaff said.

It's Mordecaing!

Nai-la la la lah. Nai lalalalah! Volug is rug on which I want to roll. Skrimir when here there will be nothing to fear. Come on Heroes, you Caineghis do it!

Yes, it is. It's positive amid all the negativity, and Takumi is cute as always! Shanna looks only okay to me, but so what of what I think? If the Shih Tzu loses to the Golden Retriever, I'm going to write a five paragraph essay on why Goldens are overrated. I don't hear a pulse coming from you. Heartless I must assume. I'd be perfectly fine if you ate human flesh from someone you murder, but hating puppies is a greater affront to humanity than cannibalism. (Don't mean to be overly serious here.)

I was just joking with the definitions of gauntlet, which includes among them running through a two rows of people who hit you as you pass by. A form of ye old military punishment. My joke failed I see.

Nobody expects the Shannish Inquisition! I hope IS doesn't start milking Shanna to the moon and back because of this. If she gets center stage in half a gazillion things because of this, I think IS misinterprets what this represents, which is but a dream of a butterfly on a Sunday afternoon. Tea is brewed too sweet, a giraffe yawns in Winnebago, and no one ponders the sound of five colors except when they do in the absence of a shopping mall. The Puppy Gauntlet? That sounds- no wait that's awful! The ASPCA won't stand by the idea of whipping innocent cuties.

*Equips the Franklin Badge* Ah, the wonders of being locked into a single weapon! Uh how many VGs have there been so far? Have 8 past yet? Could we do a Tournament of Champions?

Amazing how people can get higher than the sky off so little. Oh well, smoke your own weed. I'm going to politely turn down a joint though, I don't care for the taste. Let me have a little fun constructing a new metaphor though. This is like playing roulette with a million other people, no skill is involved. Simply playing will earn you small wins even if you lose, but the jackpot is beyond your control. Two mods appear to be having a blast right now. I don't think they have the right to say that, not until they themselves sober up first. Unless you really really get out of line.

Because she won Round 2 vs. Amelia solely to a multiplier. No multiplier there = no Shanna win = no Shanna in Round 3 vs. Takumi = no win vs. Takumi.

Impressive defense of the Big T-roneo. I like him as a character, the Rolf support does so much for him. The Ashnard boss convo (despite the typo in the above SF transcript in it "in my father's time is said by Ashy- it makes no sense otherwise) is also quite good. The Four Steadfast Riders as a whole interest me, I wish we got more on them. The Largo support is a bit stupid, but it does show a more casual and less knightly side to Tauroneo, which is great. Unfortunately his potentially interesting Ranulf, Stefan, and Elincia supports got cut. Why Tauroneo has no dialogue in the pre-battle discussion for his joining chapter (and no Ena talk) are beyond me. Although I guess it's because he's resigned himself, lost in his misery with his monarch and loss of his family, to a life in battle, almost suicidal in a way. RD does Tauroneo well too since he shows up so much, even into P4 he makes appearances. Overall, a very well built character along the way of Lorenz/Duessel.

I just stumbled on this in case you never saw it: Soren complementing Micaiah on her use of strategy. You like? Soren knows he's cold, so he can't criticize her and doesn't. Though it's clear Micaiah doesn't like being like Soren, whereas Soren is fine with being himself. The difference between the two. One Branded of warmth, the other of cold. Life spun them differently, and so, different they are. Micaiah was left for dead and saved by a kind old woman, Soren held hostage and dumped off to a mean old woman. Perhaps if they had swapped old ladies, Miccy would the hater and Soren the lover? (I'm just being poetic here.) IS would never look at it I think since they've too much pride to borrow from knockoff FE, but TearRing Saga might provide a solution. I've never played TRS nor watched an LP of it (because I want to get an emulator working some day and play it myself). But from what I've heard of the game it's the journey of Not-Leif, Not-Alm, Not-Celica, and some dude name Holmes. Not-Leif and Holmes are playable and go on their own separate journeys, while Not-Alm and Not-Celica do their own things offscreen, mentioned and seen as wicked NPCs with their monsterous NPC friends in one battle, but they themselves aren't playable until the very last fight. If this was done well, then mayhap Micaiah could be Not-Leif and Ike Not-Alm. This wouldn't be the end all solution though, it'd require much more than this since the narrative of RD seems very different from TRS from what little I know of it.

RD's writing is better than Fates and Awakening most certainly for most of the time. Things do go downhill at a certain point, but they get better after that. And it is generally considered some of FE's better writing in at least one of its Parts. The plot is ambitious, whether one likes RD or not in narrative is dependent on whether you think the nadirs outweigh the zeniths or vice versa. Most consider it better executed than Fates though. PoR vs. RD as the better Tellius game is a debate of simplicity vs. ambition. Gameplay is different with the Part system. The difficulty is hardest at the beginning, with things otherwise being pretty standard for FE. Multiple Parts forces you to use a few more units than you normally do. Balance issues do arise with a few glaring flaws, but that's the case in any FE. Since you're playing it at no cost, go ahead and try.